However, many other records which contain genealogical information start well before 1538, and continue long after. In general, archival records contain information about wealthier landowning members of society, so most ordinary people are less well documented.īefore 1538, when parish registers began, births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials were not officially recorded, though some notes may have been kept by the priest.
Information about ordinary people’s lives does exist, but it often occurs in records created for other purposes.
